Old friends, new desire, fateful decisions
by Slim Molts
Summary: Magoichi Saika tails Keiji Maeda to Shikoku, suspicious of his commitment to Tokugawa's plans for unification. But in her search for information she finds there a new facet to her prowess, granted to her by an old friend who can't quite let go of the past she so desperately wants to forget. Set at the end of the anime/the start of the events of SB3. This one gets a little sweaty!
1. Which way the crow flies

The tempest was picking up like the breath of a furious sea monster howling across the Tosa region of Shikoku. The redhead's sultry lips parted from a grin to savour the salty breeze pushing in from the nearby Inland Sea. She glanced up and narrowed her resolute stare at a hand painted shop sign.

_Fair Weather_, was that supposed to be ironic? She'd never been one for jokes, she preferred people to be more direct with both their actions and their words, this was her way.

_This was our way._

Her soft tabi shoes made little more impact to the weathered wooden floors than had already been done as she swayed elegantly across to the ramshackle counter before her.

This was the thing about pirates: the home of a vagabond was never a place to _make_ a home, only to cater to the very basics of human wants and needs; and as the fiery redhead saw it, all she needed was fresh water, seared meat and a healthy stock of gunpowder packed where only she could find it.

There was something about the scent burning in her nostrils; the thrust in her tightly gripped fingers as the powder ignited that really excited her deepest desires. If inconvenience were not an issue, she'd surely have holstered more than six flintlock pistols, but Magoichi Saika didn't care for something hard rubbing between her legs when it came to warfare.

'Firearms?' The finest cliché for a pirate if ever there were one in Shikoku, stood narrow eyed behind the bar staring down at her thigh holstered collection.

'Want a closer look?' Magoichi frowned, pushing the barrel of a rapidly drawn pistol into his grizzly chin,

'Whoa! Whoa!' The eyepatch wielding sailor recoiled, 'You should be wary of whose legacy those weapons carry around here!'

'Hm,' Magoichi uttered, pulling back, 'If you think I'd have any business with the Oda clan now you're gravely mistaken. The Saika forces have provided the lock and destroyed the key to ensuring the Nobunaga tomb is never disturbed.'

'Alright, alright!' The pirate swept the sweat from his forehead, 'But…just be careful alright?'

'Always,' she said authoritatively, 'now I need some information.'

'That's a drink,' The pirate's smile was missing a good few teeth and Magoichi wondered if he'd miss a few more, but she wasn't here for trouble, unless it found her first of course.

'What's your weakness?'

'Something smooth and strong,' Magoichi smiled, swinging her long legs across a stool and propping herself upon the counter.

'Just the thing!' The pirate seemed excited, as he poured a small measure of amber liquor into a china cup.

'How much?'

'It's imported from far Europe, high price, but…ask me the question first and then I'll give you my price.'

Magoichi lowered the glass, before the sweet scented liquid had embraced her dry lips and cocked her head at him, she nodded and slammed the cup down on the table without spilling a drop.

'What scent does the name Maeda Keiji carry on the wind through these parts?'

'Keiji…Keiji…Oh yeah, happy-go-lucky guy with the cute little monkey, wanted to speak to the Daimyo.'

'And where did you send him?'

The barkeep glared at her then readied the bottle above another cup he pushed beneath it,

'Buy me this drink and I shan't tell one lie,' He grinned again. The temptation to empty his mouth of teeth, so that no soul should have to bear that cocky grin again was growing too hard to resist now and Magoichi felt her fist clench by her side.

Just then a coin necklace flew past her and landed perfectly on the end of the tilted bottle, spinning as the weight of the coins settled downward. The barkeep glanced past her,

'A-Aniki!'

'Heh,' Came a familiarly rough accent, 'You sons of bitches oughta close early if this is the kinda business you're attracting these days.'

'Hey, Aniki,' The nervy barkeep protested, 'she was just shooting the breeze!'

'Well the breeze is on me.' Motochika swayed boldly into view as he leant back against the bar. There he was, with that deeply penetrating stare, resolute like her own but combined with his statuesque height and broad physique - this was one pirate you always knew when he was earnest.

'You look well Sayaka,' Motochika declared, fixated on her eyes with a half smirk– Unfortunately, she also knew when he was lying too.

'Idiot,' she looked away, 'That name is no longer spoken, you'll do well to remember that.'

Motochika did not respond, he simply pushed away from the bar and walked around her, one hand propped on his side and the other shoved firmly into his pocket.

'So...Sayaka,' the idiot mused, 'I was beginning to think the crows wings might have been clipped?'  
'Hm,' she slid her finger through a straying lock, 'crows don't care for the open waters, we prefer to keep to altitudes where the wolves chase the rabbits below.'  
'You know, there's plenty of action out here, if you know where to find it.' He smiled implicatively and Saika glanced back to her drink, she wouldn't get trapped in his stare, again...  
'Sir Motochika I-'  
'Oi oi, no need for the formality, call me Chosokabe, Sayaka.'  
Suddenly she spun around, locking eyes with the steely pirate lord, a temperate amber flame surrounding her pupils as though two bullets heading straight for his forehead.  
'I told you, never to call me that.'  
Motochika held his stare, his ocean blue eyes flickering side to side but never loosing his smirk, then he nodded as he pulled back to take a seat beside her.  
'Old habits die hard eh?' He said, tipping back the bottle the barman had 'accidentally' left at the bar.  
'So do old people.'  
Motochika shot her a reassuring glance -at least her attempt at humour hadn't offended him. He might have been an idiot but she couldn't let him think that she was only using him for information, allies with secrets were far greater than enemies.  
"Magoichi, let's talk openly, what brings you to Shikoku?'  
Magoichi spoke in a low voice, leaning closer along the bar,  
'Maeda Keiji, what did he have to say to you?'  
'Straight to the mark as always! Keiji...Keiji...you mean the happy-go-lucky guy with the cute monkey?'  
'Happy is not the word I would use...more like persistent.'  
Motochika shrugged, reaching across to refill her cup, Magoichi slid her hand between the bottle and its recipient yet he held it for a moment, flashing a smug grin.  
'Have a drink, and all you need to know is yours.'  
'That cheap trick must be very effective around here, for cheap men.'  
'Well, are you going to refuse?'  
Damn him, Magoichi thought, damn him and his stupid jokes. This was important; couldn't he see how serious this was to her? Was he that stupid?  
'Fine.' Magoichi retracted her palm and once the drink was poured she lifted it to the air as a toast. Motochika's cup clinked against hers and he downed the contents, shooting her an expectant glare. Finishing her own drink was, she accepted, a very bad idea when she was subject to this man's devises.  
'So then,' Motochika's scowl passed around the wary faces surrounding them,  
'Keiji.'  
Motochika leant in closer to her, 'listen, is there somewhere else we can talk about this?'  
What was he up to? Magoichi knew that Motochika usually had a glint in his eye when some charlatan scheme was playing through his mind, but seeing nothing she had to take it as a safe move and nodded to the winding staircase at the far side of the room.  
'This is an inn, isn't it?'  
'Oi! Mr Yarashito,' Motochika waved to the proprietor as he stood up, 'we'll take a room'  
'Ah, Aniki, please forgive me but that room is preoccupied!'  
'No problem!' Motochika quipped, grabbing Magoichi by the wrist and tugging her towards the staircase.

He marched up two stairs a time until he got to the top where he crouched back on one foot and with one hand in Saika's and the other firmly in his pocket; he gave the door an almighty kick, nearly shattering the hinges. A young, naked couple were tangled on the bed in the heat of an exotic act of sexual experimentation and at the bursting of the door the young girl's moans of pleasure turned to a wild scream of mortification!  
'A-Aniki?' The sweat soaked boy sat up, scrambling for his pants.  
'Lord Motochika!' The naked girl smoothed back her silver hair and glancing into his eyes she blushed with a smile as he swayed into the room.  
'Alright lad, this room's mine for now, bring your lady to Fukaku tonight and I'll see you reimbursed for your troubles.'  
The boy seemed stunned, actually bowing as he helped his lady find her dress and pulled her from the room calling back. 'Thank you! Thank you very much Aniki!'

Once the door was shut Magoichi looked across her shoulder at him from where she stood before an open window. The brilliant glow from the setting sun and gentle breeze surrounded her in a radiant nimbus of spectral aura, a painting in Motochika's mind until she whitewashed it with her sharp tongue.  
'You didn't need to do that.'  
'Pirates don't just come to bars to use their mouths you know, even rum-whores have ears for listening. Besides, a chance to show the young of this land the fairness of their Daimyo is a chance not to be thrown overboard in such turbulent times! Treat your men like unworthy brothers and they'll always be back for more.'  
'Idiot.'  
'You know...Saika...' Motochika mused, 'it was not long ago that might have been you looking at me with those eyes.'  
'Eyes?'  
'How long has it been d'you suppose, since we...?'  
'Hmn?' Magoichi folded her arms.  
'Never mind, just old mermaids singing from distant rocks. Now, what business do the crows have with monkey boy?'  
Magoichi turned to pace the room,  
'I seem to have attracted the interest of Uesugi Kenshin and, that lovesick puppy Keiji seems to have been let a little too far off his leash, now he's come sniffing around here and I want to know why? What business does the God of War or the Maeda clan have with the sea devil of the Western seas?'  
'Well, I'd say that puppy came barking up the wrong tree. Ieyasu Tokugawa was to me but another sun too far to feel its burning heat. Then, after the death of Hideyoshi the bastards stormed our unguarded backs and now look at us, trapped in a corner with no support, waiting to be swept to sea. Tokugawa took down one greedy tyrant, only to become the very same!' Motochika's face was tensed with wild ferocity, Magoichi had never seen her friend so angry, yet so confused at the same time. Magoichi wondered if she should have asked more questions when announcing the red bell contract with Tokugawa, but it was too late now, she wouldn't drop her guns and start picking fights just for sake of old allies, Motochika had to learn somehow that the Saika way takes no emotions into their dealings, those ties were severed long ago.

'Monkey boy thought I'd drink his saltwater convictions,' Motochika growled, 'thinking I wouldn't taste the tears of those who have died at his puppet masters hand.'  
'So you made him…walk the plank?'

'Far from it,' Motochika spotted a sake bottle and cups that the young couple had forgotten in their haste. He poured two generous cups and handed one to Magoichi who eyed it warily.  
'Let me guess,' she said sardonically, 'I drink you talk?'  
'Come on Sayaka, what happened? You used to be fun! Join me, for old time sake?'  
Mess with her head, fine; mess with her guns, if you're lucky; but mess with her pride? Now he'd hit the spot he'd been aiming for. Magoichi downed the sake and gestured for another.  
'Heh,' Motochika gave her that look again, but this time she held for a little too long, had she been caught in his net?  
'So, Magoichi wrapped her arm defensively beneath her chest, 'this Maeda Keiji may be more innocent than I suspected. He had nothing else to say?'  
'What can I say, the man's motives are little more than delusional. Seems he'll fight for or against anything as long as the end result is the fools idea of a peaceful unification of states.'  
'Motochika...' Saika seemed somewhat apprehensive all of a sudden, 'where do your allegiances lie now?'  
'Mitsunari is assembling a coalition of those who will not be oppressed by Ieyasu's fists, I strongly advise you meet with him and hear his side.'  
'The Saika faction take no sides, we will do only what is asked of us.'  
'Which means?'  
'I will see to it Ieyasu's bonds are made as to his requests.'  
Motochika was quiet for a moment as he faced the giant, glimmering amber sun falling down into the irredescant sea far beyond his small island and its small affairs.  
'That man sure loves his bonds eh?' Motochika smiled wryly and Magoichi couldn't help but find his words funny, but trying to resist laughter only made it worse and she erupted with a giggle of laughter soon turning into a side splitting explosion of pent up pleasire releasing free from her own control or even care.  
'There,' Motochika chuckled, 'that's the Saika I remember, no, Sayaka.'  
Rather abruptly, Magoichi found Motochika's fingers gently caressing her cheek. Frozen, what was she doing? What had she said? Why did she drink so much sake? Magoichi quickly slapped away his hand and made for the door.  
'I must leave.'  
Motochika did not speak but as she pulled open the door he caught her by the wrist.  
'Sayaka...'  
'Release me,' she cautioned, her fingers twirling above the pistols handle.  
'Sayaka, I wish to speak with you, in a more private setting. Remember that place, where we used to go? If you aren't there at the dawn of the rising sun, then I'll take it as good I know your word stands that the crows have decided to fly west.'  
He let her go, hoping it wouldn't be for the last time.


	2. West to the past, East for the future

Magoichi stood atop the hill, the breeze had calmed now, pushing gently across her shoulders. The shimmering orange sun was hauntingly beautiful as it rose up over the gently rolling waves. The salty sea air smelled great, so fresh it felt inside her racing chest, it reminded her of days when life wasn't all about contracts and emotional detachment, when warfare and politics meant little more to her than shadows in the setting sun. But things had changed, she knew more now, she was stronger, she had the power she had always watched slide through her fingers like gunpowder. Now she could control it, she could focus that power and pull the trigger that would carry her power to the heavens and beyond.

The old way was gone, it was a good thing, she had more now than she had ever before, all except one thing perhaps, something that her old name would have wanted more than anything, but her old name was nothing more to her now than-

'Sayaka.' A voice from behind her called, Magoichi swallowed the feelings away and turned to face Motochika, who stood atop the hill, his massive anchor swung across his shoulder.

'What is it you have to say to us?' Magoichi called out,

Motochika began to walk across to her, glancing around him quite deliberately as he did,

'Us? You brought company?'

'I am here,' She clenched her fists once more by her side, speaking with unshakable tenacity, 'I will give you until the sun has risen above the waves to speak, then I must leave immediately.'

'Is that so,' Motochika said, strafing around her, 'Then tell me, have you resolved to join Ieyasu?'

'I told you, the Saika mercenaries do not join armies, we are our own. I will see to it that the contract is fulfilled.'

'If that is so,' Motochika gripped his anchor tightly, the firm muscles of his chest and arms tensed all over, 'Saika, we may well meet again. But, I do not wish to fight you.'

'If you are to stand between us and Ieyasu Tokugawa then you will only meet disappointment.'

'Damn it,' he scowled, 'you know, even before, you were stubborn.'

Magoichi ignored his attempt at provoking her and instead turned to see the sun was now halfway, when she twisted around she was caught off guard to see Motochika now stood before her. His disdain was intense, his eyes crashing through her like a violent storm, quenching the fire in her chest and leaving her body trembling uncontrollably. The man lifted his anchor to the air, Magoichi tugged her pistol loose and thrust it to his head as the anchor came crashing down into the earth, just beside where she stood.

'What?' Magoichi breathed, 'Motochika…'

'If this is all there is to us: a fish and a bird, trapped in a maelstrom and a tornado from which neither can escape, can we not at least accept that we're headed for the same island?'

'Motochika, I…'

'Fear binds you,' Motochika spoke, 'but fear is only like staring into the ocean, if you look deeper, you'll only see yourself staring back.'

'What do you…?'

'Sayaka, it is not the world you are afraid of, it is only yourself.'

Magoichi stared into his eyes: those eyes that to her she knew could never tell a lie; those eyes that opened a door to the past, to a place where devoid from the now she could be whoever she wanted, away from the eyes of those who would call her weak for letting her emotions govern her will. Who cared? As long as another soul could share in her unrestrained desires then it could not be seen as weakness, it was power. Power that all along she had craved, fought for, hurt for, even sent men to die for. Did she not deserve to release the power she had so long suppressed?

'You're mistaken,' Magoichi shook the pistol at his head, 'I…I…'

'Sayaka,' Motochika rumbled grabbing her wrist and pulling the pistol to his head,

'If this is it, then shoot. End me and I'll never bother you again.'

Magoichi's finger tensed as Motochika pushed into the barrel of the gun, with his head he shoved the weapon back more and more until Magoichi could no longer keep it straight and it dropped to her side and his lips drove into hers.

Motochika scooped her up in his huge arms and pressing her body tightly into his he carried her backward until her bare back tinged the soft bark of a tree. Motochika buried his lips into her neck, sucking and biting as he worked his way down to her collar. His fingers tore open the clasp at the back of her top and it came away from her, the absence of sticky leather felt free after so long and the soft breeze tickled her skin with squirms of undiluted pleasure. Motochika threw his gloves to the floor and let his firm hands gently cup her soft breasts, his fingers gently pulled at her sensitive nipples and she could feel his smooth hair brushing against her neck as he rose up again to work his lips back up to beneath her ear. He released his hand holding her wrist and reached up to slide his fingers through her fiery mane, massaging her pounding head, then reaching around to the nape of her neck he supported her head so she could let it back as she moaned quietly.

She reached up to push him back a little, feeling overwhelmed, but found only the hard muscle of his bicep, it felt so strong, so powerful, she no longer wanted to push him away but to feel every inch of his power pushing into her, feeding her own.

Motochika's jacket and belts hit the floor. Magoichi opened her eyes fully to see the improvements he had made to his already torn body. He looked stronger, the recent invasion had obviously hardened him up, scars from the battle he had been forced to flee from showed that he had put up a damn good resistance -Motochika might have been hard on his men, treating them mean to keep them keen, but Magoichi knew that he would always be the first to stain the battlefield in blood, whether it be the enemy's or even his own.

The deep abdominal lines of his stomach tensed and he pushed his hips hard into hers. His head now buried in her neck he took his hand from her breast and slipped it down her waist, grabbing her hip firmly as he reached around to caress the mound of her buttock. Shudders of rapture fired up from her abdomen, like a volley of miniature missiles, bursting upward and exploding from her mouth as she gasped and moaned with unruliness.

Motochika's lips began to press into the centre of her collar and work slowly down to her soft chest, his tongue pushed from his lips and she felt it running across her hardened nipple, firing another bolt of electric excitement right to her core. Moving further down he now had both hands tightly gripping her behind as he drew his tongue along her bare stomach, licking every drop of the salty sweat upon it like fresh seawater. As he reached her hips his hands slid around and pulling them around to her front he slid his fingers, facing him into her pants. Then he pulled, tearing the pants apart in one burst of power. Magoichi gasped as the amorous breeze licked her naked body, but this was nothing compared to what Motochika's tongue had planned. Gently he placed his hands upon her bare buttocks and lifted her up with ease, lowering her legs across his shoulders, her heat close enough to him to feel the warm breath upon it.

Motochika flashed her a quick stare of wicked intent and then turned his head to her inner thigh and pressed his lips into the lowest part, massaging the skin with his tongue as he worked up. Magoichi could feel the tension blazing through her, the anticipation of uncertainty, this power laying dormant for so long was filling her whole form, having waited in the shadows of suppression it rose uncontrollably within her, pushing harder and harder, waiting to release. His tongue drove into her core, powerfully stroking up and down, in and out and sending crashing waves of intense joy shuddering up her body.

She cried out as her head flew back, it was growing, pulsing, the most powerful energy she had ever experienced was thundering through her, rushing, detonating.

Motochika pulled back as the pulsations of pleasure levelled before they reached whatever peak they were assailing to. Motochika pushed her up and back against the tree, he collected his belts from the floor as Magoichi panted for breath, then taking her trembling hands in his he pulled them behind the tree and wrapped the belt tightly around her wrists. With his other belt he tied one end to her ankle and took the other end behind the tree to her other ankle, forcing her legs open against the belts taut length.

'What are you…?' Magoichi struggled to free her hands and feet, but the inability to free them only seemed to excite her more, what could she do now? She was bound and powerless to his hungry desire.

From the floor Motochika collected the pistol she had dropped earlier and holding it up he examined the handle with a wry grin.

'What is it you like about gunfire?' He tilted his head as he brought the pistol across to her, 'the distance? The power? Or is it something else?'

Magoichi narrowed her stare at him, 'What are you going to do?'

'Oh, nothing really…' His eye glinted, 'just a small…experiment.'

The man took the gun into his hand so he was ready to fire and pointed the barrel directly at her head.

'Bastard,' Magoichi spat, 'you tricked me.'

The gun then moved in so that the cold steel pressed against her neck, the sensation sent a shiver through her, which continued as the pistol dragged down her shoulder, along her chest, down her torso, onto her stomach and finally stopping at her most sensitive area.

Magoichi pushed once more against the restraints, scowling at him with a look of humiliation.

Motochika then twisted the gun between his fingers, still pressing the trigger, it now pointed upward with the handle facing her wet core.

The handle pushed in, spreading and driving deep inside her, its severity felt implausibly awakening, strong as the power it radiated throughout her. Magoichi could hardly open her eyes to see what he was planning. She saw his finger wrapped around the trigger with the barrel aimed at the sky. Motochika sat safely beneath her, watching her body for any signs of resistance.

'Please,' Magoichi gasped, 'don't'

He pulled the trigger, sparks burst from the chamber and the handle kicked back into her, the sparks melting across her sensitive skin and the force of the shot recoiling inside of her sent a violent shockwave of divine ecstasy rippling and spreading all around her defenceless body.

'Again?' Motochika grinned, not that she had a choice as he gripped the trigger and squeezed it once more. It was after the second wave of immense force had rushed through her that Magoichi noticed the swelling in Motochika's pants.

'Finish this,' she gasped, sweat dripping from every pore of her being, 'fuck me.'

Motochika stood as he tossed the pistol to the ground and unbuckled his pants, dropping to the ground his mighty erection rose up toward her and he staggered forward.

His lips pressed into her mouth and she tasted the sweat he had so patiently sweated out, waiting for her embrace. She wanted to reach out and touch him, run her hands across his powerful pride and show him how it felt to be powerless, but bound fast she was unable to do anything but follow his lead with her lips.

Motochika's power was now pressing hard into her core and she tilted her hips forward, unable to withstand the agony of expectation any longer. His cock forced inside of her, impelling a painless fireball to erupt within her, a hot, ethereal flame that burned with utter enchantment as he pushed deeper in. Lost in enrapture she was, the more he rode his hips back and forth, the greater the power rising within her seemed. Could it be that this was all was needed to exceed the boundaries of mortal power? Or was this merely an escape, a chance to push all of one's latent force into an unrivalled form of inviolable delectation. Suddenly, it all began to apex and fill her, like gunpowder spreading all through her body and waiting to ignite, more and more it rushed into her, filling her, her body arching back as a spark ignited the powder and a detonation volleyed all across her body cantering and climaxing at her very core. As Motochika continued she felt a second explosion erupt and she tossed back her head as she screamed into the dawn. Another cry echoed out across the exanimate forest that surrounded them and then silence fell once more.


End file.
